Originally part of Newburgh and Shaker Townships and annexed to Cleveland in 1913 and 1915,
the Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood developed principally between 1900 and 1930. During these
decades, the Buckeye Road area attracted the largest Hungarian population outside of Hungary
and became known as Cleveland's Little Hungary.

Shaker Square, developed between 1927 and 1929 by the Van Swerigen brothers, at the point
where the two lines of the Shaker Rapid diverge, is one of the nation's earliest and most
architecturally distinguished examples of a planned shopping center. Adjacent to Shaker Square are
over 3,000 units of high-quality multi-family housing, the largest such concentration in the City.

South and east of Shaker Square is the Ludlow neighborhood, which lies in both Cleveland and
Shaker Heights and was part of the larger Van Sweringen development. This area is known
nationally for its Tudor architecture, curving streets and generous green spaces. To the northwest of
Shaker Square is the Larchmere retail district and Fairwood neighborhood. During the 1960's and
1970's, racial and economic change, accompanied by increasing property repair needs in the
Buckeye section of the neighborhood, resulted in the establishment of grass-roots organizations
committed to stabilizing that part of the neighborhood. The Buckeye-Woodland Community
Congress and Bank on Buckeye were among the most active and innovative neighborhood
organizations operating in Cleveland during the 1970's and early 1980's. In the early 1990's the
development of a 120,000-square foot shopping center near East 116th and Buckeye (in the
Woodland Hills neighborhood) and an upturn in storefront renovation activity has caused renewed
optimism for the neighborhood's future.